Tim LaHaye, Pastor and Author of Rapture Book Series 'Left Behind,' Passes Away at 90

Tim LaHaye, the author of "Left Behind" series died after suffering complications from stroke at the age of 90.

He passed away on July 25th at a La Mesa hospital in California. The news of his passing away was announced on his official ministry Facebook page.

"Thrilled as I am that he is where he has always wanted to be, his departure leaves a void in my soul I don't expect to fill until I see him again," said Jerry B. Jenkins, Left Behind's co-author, in a tribute he wrote for Christianity Today.

"The Tim LaHaye I got to know had a pastor's heart and lived to share his faith," Jenkins wrote. "He listened to and cared about everyone, regardless of age, gender, or social standing. If Tim was missing from the autograph table or the green room of a network television show, he was likely in a corner praying with someone he'd just met-from a reader to a part-time bookstore stock clerk to a TV network anchorman."

LaHaye pastored churches in South Carolina and Minnesota before moving to California, where he took a leadership position in Scott Memorial Baptist Church. The church later expanded to three more locations.

LaHaye's father was an autoworker who died when he was 9 years old. He told the Christian Science Monitor that the pastor's eulogy at his father's funeral gave him hope of seeing him one day, in the rapture.

"This is not the end of Frank LaHaye," San Diego Christian quoted him as saying in a 2004 interview by CSM. "Because he accepted Jesus, the day will come when the Lord will shout from heaven and descend, and the dead in Christ will rise first and then we'll be caught up together to meet him in the air."

"All of a sudden, there was hope in my heart I'd see my father again," he said.

LaHaye retired from being a pastor in 1981 and began writing books, among which his 16-book series "Left Behind" sold over 80 million copies. He also wrote a variety of non-fiction books on themes including family life, biblical view of sex and marriage, the will of God, and Jesus Christ.

LaHaye and his wife, Beverly LaHaye, were called "the Christian power couple" by TIME Magazine. Beverly LaHaye founded Concerned Women for America in San Diego in 1979, and is the institution's head.

The couple donated millions of dollars to a number of religious institutions including Liberty University and San Diego Christian College.

He is survived by his wife, and 4 children, 9 grandchildren, and 16 great-grandchildren.